Today in Texas History: Man behind the Bowie knife born

On this date in 1796, Texas adventurer James Bowie was born northwest of Franklin, Ky. Yes, he is the Bowie for whom the Bowie knife is named after.

In October 1801, Bowie’s family settled in what is now Catahoula Parish. In about 1809, the family moved to southeastern Louisiana and developed a 640-acre plantation with cotton, sugarcane and livestock. There, they bought and sold slaves.

While a teenager, Bowie worked on the river, floating lumber to market. Family lore has it that he caught and rode wild horses, rode alligators and trapped bears.

During the War of 1812, Bowie and his brother joined the military. They were in transit to New Orleans to join Andrew Jackson’s forces when the war ended in January 1815.

After the war, the Bowie family engaged in slave trading with the pirate Jean Laffite, who ran a slave market on Galveston Island. Lafitte would capture slave shipments in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, and the Bowies would sell the slaves.

After nearly being shot in 1826, Bowie’s brother gave him a large hunting knife to carry. On Sept. 19, 1827, Bowie was shot and stabbed by combatants but managed to stab and slash two of them in return.

Due to his actions in the fight, Bowie was named the South’s best knife fighter, and his large “Bowie knife” became a popular weapon.

During the late 1820s, Bowie and his brothers’ land speculations flourished, and Bowie spent time traveling to eastern cities and Arkansas and Mississippi.

On Jan. 1, 1830, Bowie left Louisiana for Texas. On Feb. 20, he took an oath of allegiance to Mexico. He took advantage of Mexican law to acquire some 760,000 acres of Texas land. He was baptized in the Catholic Church and officially became a Mexican citizen on October 5.

Bowie bought a textile mill and married Ursula de Veramendi in San Antonio on April 25, 1831. The 35-year old said he was 32, and embellished his net worth.

In July 1835, during the nascence of the Texas Revolutionary War, Bowie led a small group of men to San Antonio to seize muskets from the Mexican Armory.

He later joined Stephen F. Austin’s volunteer army and was named a colonel who distinguished himself in several battles but did not join the official Army.

On Jan. 19, 1836, Bowie and 30 men arrived in Bexar, joining about 80 men already at the Alamo. A few days later, Davy Crockett joined.

Bowie and William B. Travis learned a month later that 1,500 Mexican soldiers were en route to the Alamo, and they sent a letter asking James Fannin for help. The next day, Bowie collapsed from a disease (which could have been pneumonia, typhoid pneumonia or tuberculosis), and was confined to a cot for the rest of the battle.

On March 6, the Mexican army overran the Alamo, killing all 188 Texan defenders. Bowie was shot several times in the head while lying on the cot.